text:
Major retailer Wal-Mart has discredited rapper Kanye West‘s claims that the initial cover art for his upcoming My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was banned from its stores.
According to a Wal-Mart spokesperson, the illustration was never presented to the company.
“We’re excited about Kanye West’s new album and we look forward to carrying it in our stores on November 22nd,” a Walmart spokesperson says in a statement provided to EW. “As always, it’s our standard practice to carry the edited parental advisory version. We did not reject the cover artwork and it was never presented to us to view.” (Entertainment Weekly)
An industry source reportedly claims that stores such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy still account for a significant portion of album sales.
At issue, said the high-placed industry source, was whether or not mass-market retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart would carry an album featuring venomous nudes, and one that would no doubt inspire controversy. Though sales at mass merchants have been declining in recent years, data from Nielsen SoundScan for the last two years still had the likes of Best Buy and Wal-Mart accounting for at least 10% or more of physical CD sales. (Los Angeles Times)
Over the weekend, West tweeted an image of his “banned” cover art.
“In all honesty … I really don’t be thinking about Wal-Mart when I make my music or album covers #Kanyeshrug!”
“I wanna sell albums but not at the expense of my true creativity.” (Kanye West’s Twitter)
Earlier this month, West said producers like Q-Tip and RZA would be attached to his LP.
“I wanted to take it back to the essence, like the soulful people who brought knowledge–like RZA and Q-Tip. At a certain point, you need to find a better way to do it; it’s like people [in basketball] who dunk and hurt their wrist and come down on their knees too hard. Your knee’s gonna give out at a certain point. Some of my social and public-persona knees are starting to give out. I still want to run the games. I’ve just got to not get kicked up quite as hard.” (Vanity Fair)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is scheduled to drop Monday, November 22nd.
Check out a recent Kanye West interview below:


text:
Dining at Cuenca’s new El Oasis restaurant is a gastronomic ceremony to be savored slowly
By Stephen Vargha
Worldwide, there is no shortage of delicious and highly rated vegan restaurants. The website Happy Cow, that works like Yelp, but only for vegan and vegetarian food, lists at least 5,523 plant-based restaurants in South America. Not surprising, Brazil has the most with 2,402. Ecuador is sixth with 261 listings, and that includes the relatively new El Oasis in Cuenca.
This up-and-coming Cuenca restaurant serves a seven-course meal that is strictly vegan as it has no genetically modified organisms (GMOs), gluten, or soy. Its meals are gluten-free and almost everything is made in house. El Oasis is only open Wednesday through Saturday, with just one sitting at 6 p.m. Dinners last about three hours.
“We never announce what we are preparing. We want it to be adventure dining,” chef and owner Mico EagleFeather says. “We want people to know it is more than an experience; it is a gastronomic ceremony.”
His partner, Annie Lulu concurs. “We want to create the experience for our guests; everyone is really special.”
A native of the North American Lakota indian tribe, EagleFeather started a gourmet vegan restaurant in Vilcabamba in 2017 that served food family style. Lulu, who hails from southern Germany and had been in financial services with Deutsche Bank, became a partner in the current restaurant in July of last year.
“I quickly learned family style was not for me. I wanted to do higher end… Michelin-style,” EagleFeather said.
Family-style dining, also known as casual-style dining, offers moderately priced entrees that feature a mix of classic and well-known cuisines, a fusion of fast food and fine dining.
Michelin-style is at the opposite end of the dining spectrum. Since 1926, Michelin stars have been awarded to restaurants judged to be of an extremely high standard. Unlike other rating systems such as TripAdvisor, Michelin stars are not based on customer reviews, but on undercover inspections by anonymous food experts.
EagleFeather closed his restaurant in Vilcabamba and moved to Cuenca in January 2020 with the hopes of opening in April. The first hurdle was finding the right place and location. “It was not easy to find the right space. Many owners did not want a food business in their buildings,” EagleFeather said. “They had concerns about smoke and food smells.” A location was finally found on the western end of El Centro, on Calle Lamar, in a gorgeous historic building that was renovated to its origins. The couple quickly adapted the space to their restaurant needs.
Then the pandemic struck. “Because of people’s attitudes about Covid, and because of the health restrictions, we waited to open,” EagleFeather said.
The extra time in July, August, and September gave the couple time to work on the creative side of their dinners. “We wanted to have original foods every two weeks,” EagleFeather said. Before they opened their doors, El Oasis had four complete menus for its seven-course dinners that includes five drinks. For people who do not drink alcohol, El Oasis has non-alcoholic options.
“The entire menu is a combination of our inputs. Everything is a creation by both of us,” EagleFeather said. “Everything is not presented the same. Annie does one style, and I do a second style.” Annie added: “We want to see your plate as a work of art.”
Though the courses is prepared the same, the presentation may look different than that of the person who is sitting next to you at El Oasis as both chefs prepare the plates. A heartfelt explanation for each plate is given to the guests at their tables. “It is important that we are there for every plate. We want people to feel welcomed,” Annie exclaimed. “We want El Oasis to be a place where people, the community come together.”
For an added experience, El Oasis offers a Chef’s Table for two people. It is for guests of the two chefs. The bar-type seating in the kitchen can be reserved on any given day for your special occasion. It is a great up-and-close experience as the couple gets to watch EagleFeather and Lulu in action in their kitchen.
EagleFeather’s food philosophy and his favorite foods has been quite the journey. “I was a hardcore carnivore. Steak and onions were my favorite.” While living with his father, Saturday mornings was a time to eat whatever he wanted. “I literally ate two pounds of bacon in a sitting,” EagleFeather said.
He started changing his diet for health reasons. The last meat EagleFeather ate was in 2012 in Costa Rica. “In a course of six months, I went from a carnivore to a vegan,” EagleFeather said. “I had to learn to cook with new ingredients.”
It helped that EagleFeather started as a prep cook at the historic Boulderado Hotel, the busiest restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. From there, he was at several plant-based restaurants in the Colorado college town.
Those experiences led him back to Costa Rica, where he operated a plant-based bed and breakfast in Nuevo Arenal. His B&B lasted only one year as the owners sold the property. The sale brought EagleFeather to Ecuador, where he fine-tuned his skills.
A test run for El Oasis with four carnivores was done prior to the restaurant’s October 1 opening. All four of them are chefs in Cuenca. “They were blown away! Jose (Calvo) comes back once a month with his friends,” EagleFeather said.
Both EagleFeather and Annie says it is more than just the food that has made El Oasis an exceedingly popular place. It is the attention to detail with fresh flower petals decorating the community table to EagleFeather’s father, Steve Clair, “smudging” the restaurant before any guests arrive. Smudging is an ancient ceremony in which you burn sacred plants, such as sage, to allow the smoke to clear and bless a space.
In their short time being open, El Oasis is already at #76 out of 518 restaurants in Cuenca, on TripAdvisor. That is quite an accomplishment as the travel website bases the rankings on an aggregate that includes the number of reviews posted.
EagleFeather thinks he knows why El Oasis is ranked so highly in such a short time. “There is a flow to every meal. There will never be an exact menu. My style is all about contrast, color textures, and mouth-feel.” The way things are eaten also matters. “Sometimes I encourage people to eat things with their fingers. It becomes an entire body experience,” EagleFeather said.
There is enough to eat for everyone. That is especially true with two desserts. For many, it truly is a culinary art experience. “When dinner is over, many times people do not want to leave! They’ve had such a great time,” EagleFeather says with a smile.
Photos by Stephen Vargha

domain: news


text:
With its equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube set to close later this week, the Cotswolds Distillery has successfully secured nearly £2.5 million through the funding round from more than a 1,000 backers.
As previously reported, the Distillery, which was founded in 2013 and began operations in September 2014, produces maturing stocks of whiskey at the rate of 175,000 bottles equivalent per annum and has introduced a range of other branded spirits to the market including gin, espresso martini, liqueurs, and fruit brandies. The distillery revealed it sells over 100,000 bottles of its Cotswolds Dry Gin, which was named ‘World’s Best London Dry Gin’ at the 2016 World Gin Awards, in 16 countries worldwide.
“We now have the capacity to produce 1 million bottles a year to meet future demand, and are recognised as one of the most highly rated craft distilleries in the world. We continue to experience strong growth; our sales increased 75% to £3.1 million for calendar year 2017. By comparison, the UK gin market grew 27% over the same period.”
Cotswolds also stated a breakdown of where the funds from the Crowdcube campaign will go:
- Build its brand by accelerating investment in advertising and promotion
- Deepen its sales and distribution network
- Build an inspiring new visitor center to be its ‘brand home’
Those who invest in the campaign will receive a lifetime 10% discount through the Cotswold’s online shop. The funding round is currently scheduled to close on Wednesday.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!


text:
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently sat down at the company’s headquarters to speak with New York Times writer Farhad Manjoo.
Back in January, the social network announced Creative Labs, not to be confused with the speaker/sound card manufacturer.
Its first major project was iPhone app Paper, and Zuckerberg says the lab “is basically unbundling the big blue app” by branching out beyond what Facebook is mainly known for.
“I think you’ll see a combination of us making some of these things that have been products for a while into first-class experiences. And you’ll see us exploring new areas that we felt we didn’t have the room to do before.”
Graph Search and Home, the launcher replacement for Android, have yet to take off, which Mark explains why:
“With Graph Search, I think that modern search products have so much built into them that we knew it was going to be a five-year investment before we got anything really good and different. With Home, the reception was much slower than we expected. But it was a riskier thing. It’s very different from other apps, let’s say Paper or Messenger. The other thing that is important context to keep in mind is that, to some extent, most of these new things that we’re doing aren’t going to move any needles in our business for a very long time.”
Manjoo also asked “How do you feel about how innovative Facebook is?” and the young CEO responded on the topic of usage:
“The main Facebook usage is so big. About 20 percent of the time people spend on their phone is on Facebook.”
While Facebook definitely could have created its own WhatsApp competitor, it represented a different use case from Messenger:
“More than 10 billion messages a day that flow through Facebook’s messaging products. But I think we basically saw that the messaging space is bigger than we’d initially realized, and that the use cases that WhatsApp and Messenger have are more different than we had thought originally. Messenger is more about chatting with friends and WhatsApp is like an SMS replacement. Those things sound similar, but when you go into the nuances of how people use it, they are both very big in different markets.”
The social network has been rumored for some time to be working on its own anonymous app, and Zuckerberg left the possibility still on the table:
“There are different forms of identity you can use to form a relationship. You can use your real identity, or you can use phone numbers for something like WhatsApp, and pseudonyms for something like Instagram. But in any of those you’re not just sharing and consuming content, you are also building relationships with people and building an understanding of people. That’s core to how we think about the world. So anonymity is not the first thing that we’ll go do.”
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook does try to pay attention to user feedback, but when there are over one billion people, “it’s very hard.”
Photo credit: JD Lasica


text:
Qualcomm is demanding a sales ban of the iPhone in the United States, as the ongoing row between the chipset maker and Apple escalates.
Qualcomm has asked the United States International Trade Commission to bar imports of iPhones, after accusing Apple of infringing six of its patents. While iPhones are designed in Apple’s headquarters in California, they are assembled overseas. If approved, this request would effectively amount to a total sales ban.
The chipset maker said the sale of iPhones within the United States is infringing six of its patents, relating to the likes of battery, graphics and data transfer.
It is also seeking to ban the sale of iPhones that use cellular baseband processors from other companies. This relates to a spat from earlier this year, when it accused Apple of downplaying the performance of its chipsets compared to Intel’s.
Don Rosenberg, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of Qualcomm, said: “Qualcomm’s inventions are at the heart of every iPhone and extend well beyond modem technologies or cellular standards. The patents we are asserting represent six important technologies, out of a portfolio of thousands, and each is vital to iPhone functions. Apple continues to use Qualcomm’s technology while refusing to pay for it. These lawsuits seek to stop Apple’s infringement of six of our patented technologies.”
Qualcomm said it expected the International Trade Commission to start an investigation into the row next month. Apple was unavailable for comment.
The row was sparked in January, when Apple accused Qualcomm of withholding almost $1 billion in payments. It said Qualcomm was profiting from “technologies they have nothing to do with”.
The US’s Federal Trade Commission is also seeking action against Qualcomm, accusing it in January of charging Apple lower fees in return for exclusivity.


text:
Reuters exclusively reported that the United States was calling for regular reviews of China’s progress on pledged reforms to its rules guiding intellectual property protections, technology transfers, subsidies and other issues as a condition for a trade deal. The U.S. could once again resort to tariffs if it deems Beijing has violated the agreement. A continuing threat of tariffs hanging over commerce between the world’s two largest economies would mean a deal would not end the risk of investing in businesses or assets that have been impacted by the trade war.
Reuters exclusively reports U.S. demands regular review of China trade reform
18 January 2019, 12:00 am 1 minute
Topics of Interest: Politics
Type: Reuters Best
Sectors: Economy & Policy


text:
This is probably not the kind of heat Victoria's Secret wanted to generate.
The lingerie giant has decided to edit out footage of model Karlie Kloss wearing a Native American-style headdress from the upcoming broadcast of the VS Fashion Show after several groups complained.
What's more, Victoria's Secret has issued an apology via Twitter:
"We are sorry that the Native American headdress in our fashion show has upset individuals. The outfit will be removed from the broadcast."
Kloss herself has also apologized.
"I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended anyone," she tweeted. "I support VS's decision to remove the outfit from the broadcast."
The fashion show, which was taped on Nov. 7, will air Dec. 4 on CBS.
The controversy comes on the heels of No Doubt pulling its new "Looking Hot" video off YouTube after the band received complaints from Native Americans who said the clip's cowboys-and-Indians imagery made a mockery of their culture.


text:
LinkedIn members are again the target of a malicious phishing scheme, which seeks to steal personal details through Google Forms…
LinkedIn is once again prime opportunity for cyber-criminals who are running a new phishing scam to siphon off members’ personal credentials. But this time, it’s exploiting Google’s technology to beat security measures that would otherwise catch the bogus communications. It likewise uses a legitimate Nigerian university email account, making it all the more believable.
New LinkedIn Phishing Scam Abuses Google Forms to Steal Personal Information
The phishing attack starts by sending an email from the legitimate educational institution. So, the message isn’t flagged or blocked by authentication checks and other protection mechanisms, such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance).
Because the fraudulent email sails through the security measures, it goes right to potential victim recipients and contains a phishing LinkedIn login page that’s hosted on Google Forms. Recipients are told their LinkedIn account is locked and tricks potential victims into entering their login credentials, which of course are stolen. Once the cyber-criminals have the personal information, it can be used for a number of nefarious purposes, including identity theft.


text:
The food service and accommodation industries — which includes restaurants, pubs, hotels, and bars — have furloughed the highest proportion of workers under the U.K. coronavirus lockdown, according to the Office for National Statistics.
79.6 percent of workers have been furloughed, with the next highest, the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry, coming in at 67.5 percent, adding ballast to the hospitality industry’s mantra that it has been the first hit and will be the last to reopen. This is the key premise behind its seeking a nine-month rent holiday for businesses in order to stay afloat, and these findings will — while providing a grave reality check — only back that up.
Simultaneously, the ONS found that while U.K. retail sales fell 5.1 percent through March in the steepest decline since 1996, food sales, largely bolstered by online shopping, rose by 10.1 percent, with supermarkets and smaller, specialist food retailers alike seeing grocery and food deliveries spike; alcohol sales from “specialist stores” rose by almost a third with baking supplies not far behind.
The two sets of statistics are the latest benchmark in a sobering, if somewhat clarifying week for the hospitality industry. News that social distancing measures would likely last until December followed confirmation that restaurants and pubs will likely be “last to exit” those measures; analysis showing that diners will likely be wary of visiting restaurants that are able to open intersected with trade body U.K. Hospitality’s first directly submitted plan for a phased reopening, to avoid catastrophic yo-yoing between full lockdown and softer restrictions.
As further data around coronavirus’ impact on the restaurant and food retail industries emerges, the vicissitudes of corona-time and its annihilation of restaurants’ former norm will become even clearer; there will be more pain for businesses, but also more clarity on what they can functionally do. With diners’ minds wary, movements restricted, and finances tightened, a prediction from the retail industry looks prescient for restaurants, too. Lisa Hooker of accountants PwC told BBC News that “Consumers intend to reward more responsible retailers ... Particularly those who looked after their staff, and shop more on their local high streets and with smaller or independent retailers.”
Those distinctions on size might not translate directly from retail to restaurants, given the “big four” supermarkets’ oligopoly on mainstream retail food supply, but they do suggest that as diners confront their own precarity, they will hopefully more clearly recognise that of restaurants, with reliability, proximity, and adaptability leapfrogging newness. More regulars; fewer tryouts. This adaptation, like all the avenues operators face in the coming months, will be easier and cleaner for some than others.


text:
PepsiCo India, the maker ofQuaker oats, Lays chips and Pepsi-Cola, is looking to enter the country’s growing dairy market.
With consumption of carbonated soft drinks such as colas going down, the company is keen to increase the share of healthy products in its portfolio.
PepsiCo is looking at dairy products especially value-added products, is not limiting to just flavour milk.
Sales of value-added dairy products including lassi and buttermilk have been steadily growing, according to market researcher Nielsen.
Store base has also increased by 60% for dairy drinks in the same period compared with 10% for soft drinks, said Nielsen.
[row][third_paragraph] Picture Credit:
[/third_paragraph][third_paragraph] [/third_paragraph][third_paragraph] Posted by:


text:
With all these talks about the rumored iWatch and the existing Galaxy Gear, we would have almost forgotten about Microsoft, but if a report from Forbes earlier today is correct, the tech giant might be working on a smartwatch with a launch date pegged for as soon as this summer.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the report is that the device will be platform agnostic, which means it would be able to sync with Windows Phone, as well as iOS and Android devices. This smart decision is apparently part of a push by new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who recently said that the company’s devices should be available on all devices.
According to reporter Parmy Olson, the device will be able to constantly monitor your heart rate and will have a battery life of about two days. Apparently, Microsoft has pulled resources from the Kinect team to work on this new project.
Still, early indications suggest the smartwatch may already be a step ahead from current fitness trackers like the Gear Fit, which requires users to turn on its heart-rate monitor. Microsoft’s device will track continuous heart rate over the course of a person’s day, sources say. The watch will look similar to the Samsung Gear Fit and feature a full-color touch screen about the size of half a stick of gum, positioned on the inside of the wearer’s wrist. The unorthodox screen-placing appears to be aimed at making it easier and more private to view notifications.
Going cross platform is definitely a good move for Microsoft who’s has arguably been left behind in the mobile space. It’s virtually impossible for the Redmond company to catch up with the likes of Apple or Google, but it’s definitely not too late to make sure the next wave of smart devices will be able to play nice with your existing smartphone, no matter what platform it’s running on. This will allow Microsoft to stay relevant a tad longer. Hopefully.


text:
Xiaomi has launched its own mobile payment service Pay Mi
This spring, the head of the company Lei Jun (Lei Jun) confirmed rumors that they are working on their own mobile payments service, which was launched in China this week.
Now the residents of China’s offer to use the service Xiaomi Mi Pay, which amounted to the company previously launched Android Pay, and Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. Recall, this technology allows you to keep your credit card on your smartphone, and then make payment for goods or services even without having a credit card. To make a payment, you must bring the smartphone equipped with NFC module, to the terminal.
At the moment, the service Xiaomi Mi-Pay supports the following banks: China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank, Huaxia Bank, Minsheng Bank, Ping An Bank and Industrial Bank. In September the list will be joined by Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank, China Everbright Bank, Beijing Bank and Guangdong Development Bank.
The NFC module is present in the smartphone Xiaomi Mi 5, as it is expected in the new phablet Xiaomi Mi Note 2.


text:
Visa has invested an undisclosed sum in Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) inventor LoopPay. “The investment is part of a larger strategic funding round for LoopPay, announced earlier this month, which includes Synchrony Financial (formerly GE Capital Retail Finance) and other strategic partners not yet named,” the mobile payments startup says.
- Survey reports on use of Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay in the US
- Samsung Pay to begin beta test in Singapore
- Mobile biometrics market to see major growth
- Gemalto explores seven myths about mobile NFC
- Absa takes banking to Twitter


text:
Tickets for 2017 St. Jude Dream Home on sale today!
BATON ROUGE – Tickets for the annual St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway are on sale Tuesday, March 14th.
Chances to win the house are $100 per ticket. Call 1-800-726-6409 or CLICK HERE to purchase a single ticket or multiple chances at winning the home. Tickets are expected to sell out.
The Dream Home is valued at more than $540,000. The four bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home is in the up and coming Long Farm Village neighborhood in East Baton Rouge.
If tickets are purchased in the next week, entrants could also win groceries for a year; buying a ticket by April 21st secures entry into a drawing for a Carnival cruise; buying a ticket by June 9 also secures entry into the popular car giveaway. This year, All Star Automotive is giving away a Kia Sorrento SX V6 SUV valued at $40,000.
Ticket purchased go toward helping fund St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where many families from the Baton Rouge area seek free healthcare for their ill children.
The Dream Home Giveaway telecast is scheduled for June 11 on WBRZ Channel 2.
Desktop NewsClick to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Animals abandoned at construction site of animal shelter
Office Park highlights more drainage problems they say have gone unaddressed for...
Hiring incentives paying off from some businesses
Concrete canal erodes, causes sinkhole in neighbor's yard
Louisiana District Attorney's Association working to fix broken system involving multiple bonds


text:
As per the report, almost 9 in 10 (87 per cent) of the employees interviewed agreed that showing more emotions at work makes them more productive and boosts feelings of belonging.
Twitter CEO had earlier mentioned that offers will be rescinded in a tweet and recently crypto exchange Coinbase also announced its plans of extending hiring freeze and rescinding rolled out offers.
A LinkedIn research shows that India’s working women are quitting or considering quitting their jobs, which do not provide them flexibility, in 2022.
Leading online professional network LinkedIn, on Tuesday, launched its latest consumer research based on 2,266 respondents in India to uncover the challenges faced by women at work.
The corporate tussle between founder and former Managing Director Ashneer Grover, and the current management gets uglier by the day.
The launch of Hindi is part of LinkedIn's vision to become a more equitable platform and allow more diverse professional communities to unlock greater value from LinkedIn, the statement said.
Entrepreneurship runs in their blood, which led to their new venture Starring You - a one-stop-shop for talent related to any sphere of the film industry.
Most business leaders in India feel pressured to offer greater flexibility post-pandemic: LinkedIn Study
Despite challenges, 83 per cent of India's business leaders are confident about leading a distributed workforce, when compared to 66 per cent of leaders in the APAC region.
LinkedIn will replace its localized platform in China with a new app called InJobs that has some of LinkedIn's career-networking features.
Majority of Indian professionals believe hybrid work is essential for work-life balance: LinkedIn Survey
According to LinkedIn's 'Future of Work' Study 2021, nearly 9 in 10 respondents think that hybrid work will positively impact their work-life balance.
The various start-ups that TNIE talked to, mention LinkedIn as their primary or major source of hiring.
According to LinkedIn India Labour Market Update for June 2021, there was a deepening hiring dip in April 2021, corresponding to a second wave of COVID-19 cases in India.


text:
The first ever medical marijuana auctioned online in Oklahoma sold to a dispensary in Oklahoma City that bid $2,200 for a half-pound.
Sage Farms, in Glenpool, was one of the first 40 growers to get licensed after voters passed State Question 788 in June. What started as seeds in August turned to 1,000 tall plants grown hydroponically by November. Now, the farm is trimming and selling its product through OKcannabismarket.com.
"We've gotten some criticism for selling our products so high right now. But we're putting it out there for dispensaries to determine the price,” said Ben Neal, the owner of Sage Farms.
“We wanted to be able to market to all dispensaries, not just those that we know of, so what better way to get your product out there and figure out what the Oklahoma market price is?”
Prices are expected to tumble once more growers sell on the website.
“The market is going to eventually just level out,” said Jessica Teer, Sales and Marketing for Sage Farms. “Right now, yes it’s going for high, but that’s because there’s only a little bit out there to be had.”
Teer visits dispensaries so business owners can see, touch, and smell the product. She also visits with other growers, encouraging them to sell online.
“This is not for medical marijuana patients. This website is only for licensed businesses. Licensed dispensaries can buy off the cannabis market, and licensed growers can sell on the market for free,” said Teer.
Sage Farms is now growing in its second medical marijuana greenhouse, which houses 480 plants that will be harvested in the next three months.
"We've made a sizable investment in what we've got going on out here; we need to recoup our money now, because we might not be able to next year,” said Neal.
"If we don't, and the prices drop to $1,000 or less, then we'll probably be growing tomatoes in here."
Neal started his farming business growing tomatoes and other produce, which is delivered to doorsteps across Green Country for a subscription fee.
While the first auction closed at $2,200 for a half-pound of Skunk Wednesday, the second auction closed Friday at $1,400 for the same product.
“We have another auction closing tomorrow. Then we’re going to be listing some of the Haze and some Blueberry,” said Neal, describing different strands.
While Sage Farms is currently only growing medical marijuana, it just received its processing license as well.
“We’re buying a CO2 extracting machine so we’re going to start getting into the edibles market, oils, and vapes,” said Neal.


text:
Universal Audio updated its UAD software to version 9.15 recently. The change brings two brand quality new delay and preamp plugin tools.
IK Multimedia, known for its intuitive presets and software instruments, released the Total Studio Max 3 Bundle. Covering all bases in music production.
Arturia, just in time for the new year, announced the V Collection 8 package. This latest version of Arturia's V collection brings four new additions.
Waves Audio has just announced the arrival of the latest update to its family of plugins. V12 (version 12) is here, bringing speed improvements and more.
For a limited time, IK Multimedia has made its Classic Clipper peak clipping plugin free to download, but not for very long.
PreSonus is back with more goodies to share with the public. This time, with a unique new instrument pack, Deep Flight One.
Akai has just launched its newest free software, MPC Beats. This offers an MPC production experience to anybody who already owns a MIDI controller.
Apple has now released its latest, and greatest update to Logic Pro X, 10.5. This brings many new features which had not yet been available before.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Universal Audio has announced that it will be releasing its awaited LUNA recording software earlier than expected.
Arturia will be giving away its popular 'iSpark' iPad drum machine app away for free for a limited, one month long period.
After May 31st, a long list of popular products from Native Instruments, and other companies will be discontinued for future purchases and re-installations.
Universal audio dropped a bombshell at NAMM 2020, by announcing its first ever DAW and full analog inspired recording system, Luna.


text:
Plans have been submitted to build a brand new ‘gateway’ building into Ilkeston, containing its second drive-through fast food restaurant.
McDonald’s, which already has a restaurant in the Albion Centre, Bath Street, is set to open up a new branch on derelict land in Rutland Street – right next door to rival KFC.
But developers say this is no ordinary drive-through – the new restaurant, providing 65 jobs, will occupy about a quarter of the ‘gateway’ two-storey building.
The rest of the 17,000 sq ft development could be split between different businesses and potentially provide a further 100 jobs for townsfolk.
Nottingham-based developers BSP Holdings have asked Erewash Borough Council to allow the multi-million pound development to house businesses including a gym, car showroom, health clinic or amusement centre.
David Singh, from the firm, was behind bringing KFC – and 50 jobs – to the site, previously occupied by Ilkeston Contractors, exactly a year ago.
He said work on an adjacent scheme to build a new auto-centre for another national company was already progressing.
“This scheme will be a catalyst for change and we expect the combined site as a whole to become a major gateway into the town with all the interest that this naturally develops,” he told the Advertiser.
He said he hopes to be able to confirm details on the next phase soon.
Cllr Frank Phillips, who spoke out against the KFC development in his ward at a planning meeting in 2010, this time said he was ‘fairly happy’ with what was being proposed.
The Ilkeston Central councillor said: “It needs to be a significant building because it’s a gateway site to Ilkeston.
“I am happy the site is being used and any jobs in this economic climate are welcome.”
Mr Singh promised a ‘substantial, striking and eye-catching’ development.
McDonald’s this week confirmed that the new store will provide 65 full and part-time jobs and that the Bath Street branch will remain open for the time being.
A McDonald’s spokesman said: “We currently have no plans to close our restaurant on Bath Street.
“We are constantly reviewing our estate and any future decisions on the restaurant will depend on it continuing to trade successfully.”
The fate of the plan will be decided on by either Erewash Borough Council’s planning department or by councillors at a future meeting.
The plan is available to view in full on the council’s website at www.erewash.gov.uk.
BSP asked for any businesses interested in opening up in the new building to contact surveyor Simon Lewis on 07733 894704.


text:
According to a Bloomberg report, Nokia would consider Apple a potential buyer of its Nokia HERE Maps application. The report states that the Finnish company would be trying to sell its mapping division due to loss of revenue , let’s remember that Nokia bought the tools for its maps in 2008 for about 8 billion dollars, now it would be looking to sell them for about 3 billion.
Besides Apple, Nokia may have other important options to sell Nokia HERE Maps, these companies would be Facebook, Baidu, Sirius XM, Amazon and Alibaba. It should be noted that in addition to the big drop that its mapping service has suffered, Nokia would also like to get rid of it to focus more on mobile devices and compete with companies like Huawei. This decision would be consolidated last week with the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia.
Nokia HERE Maps would be a pretty good complement to Apple’s maps, which after a rather unfortunate launch, is gradually becoming what was expected from the company on the block. For many, the rival to overcome is Google Maps, since the big G map service is the most used even by many of the iOS users.
In early 2015, Nokia launched HERE Maps on the iPhone and has been introduced as one of the most widely used. For now we’ll have to wait to see what movements both Apple and Nokia follow. Do you think this purchase would be good for iOS users or do you prefer the market to be more fragmented?


text:
I did some searching tonight for new investments for the long-term port. After reading this week's S&P Outlook, I decided to take a closer look at Finish Line (FINL). The company is a mall-based retailer specializing in athletic/activewear and footwear. Recently, they diversified their goods with the acquisition of Man Alive, an up-and-coming mall-based retailer concentrating on hip-hop fashion. The numbers look alright, and the outlook seems promising.
The company sports a market cap just under $900MM, so it isn't large enough to have caught everyone's attention. While it is not unknown, the company is probably not yet on everyone's radar. That said, there is plenty of room for the company to grow. There are over 500 Finish Line stores scattered throughout the U.S. However, there are less than 40 Man Alive stores sprinkled in the midwest and eastern regions of the nation. The company believes that the Man Alive concept could eventually support hundreds of stores.
The current opinions of Wall Street analysts is neutral to negative; I did read the latest Goldman Sachs report on the company, and I am willing to take on the risk. Sometimes you have to establish your position when the company is out of favor. Typically, long-term profits are not made buying with the crowd. Assuming the stock does not move wildly to the upside, I will be a buyer tomorrow.


text:
Smartphones launching in October 2020: A storm is returning. October are going to be a crazy month for technology enthusiasts with a wave of smartphones launching within the country, beginning with the primary week itself. Here area unit all approaching smartphones from OnePlus, Apple, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, others.
Smartphones launching in Gregorian calendar month 2020: A storm is returning. Gregorian calendar month are a crazy month for technology enthusiasts with a wave of smartphones launching within the country, beginning with the primary week itself. nearly each major smartphone player is ready to launch a smartphone this month, hoping to extend sales, that are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Google is ready to bring its new element smartphone to the country, Apple is probably going to launch new line-up of iPhones and OnePlus 8T launch date has additionally been declared. Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, Samsung and Oppo also are doubtless to launch their new smartphones within the same month. The launches also will coincide with joyous season sales set to be hosted by e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon. whereas Flipkart’s massive Billion Days sale is scheduled for between Gregorian calendar month sixteen to Gregorian calendar month twenty one, Amazon is ready to announce its dates on. If you're getting to obtain a brand new smartphone, keep an in depth eye on all the new launches. Smartphones launching in Gregorian calendar month 2020 Infinix Hot ten – Gregorian calendar month four Poco C3 – Gregorian calendar month half dozen Realme seven – Gregorian calendar month 7 Motorola MotoRazr fiveG – Gregorian calendar month 5 Samsung Galaxy F41 – Gregorian calendar month eight OnePlus 8T – Gregorian calendar month fourteen Apple iPhone twelve series – time period Google element 4a – Gregorian calendar month seventeen Vivo V20 series – Discovery Day Xiaomi Mi 10T – Late Gregorian calendar month Nokia 2.4, Nokia 3.4 - Late Gregorian calendar month Apart from this, you'll expect many action in different segments additionally with Realme set to unveil its AIoT product throughout a launch event on Gregorian calendar month seven. the corporate is anticipated to launch a brand new smartTV among different things. OnePlus is additionally tipped to launch over one product throughout its Gregorian calendar month fourteen launch event. These could embody new OnePlus buds. Samsung has anyway been terribly aggressive in Asian nation this year and to assume that Galaxy F41 are the sole smartphone it'll launch this month, would be stupid. Apple’s recently launched iPad Air and Watch half dozen square measure however to travel on sale in Asian nation. So, that’s one thing to stay a watch on additionally. Sony is additionally getting to launch new TVs underneath the Bravia series someday this month. TWS phase is anticipated to stay obtaining new product each from ancient and non-traditional players. Lastly, you'll additionally expect Indian brands like volcanic rock and Micromax to form some noise.


text:
West Chester, Pa. – E-commerce and video retailer QVC has hired Matthew Goldberg as senior vp of global market development.
He will identify priority markets and potential partners, oversee launch plans, and steer new business. Goldberg reports to Mike George, president and ceo of QVC.
Goldberg most recently served as ceo of Lonely Planet, where he headed the company’s expansion into China, India, Brazil, Russia and other markets through partnerships and local operations. He recently facilitated the sale of Lonely Planet to a private investor.
“As QVC continues to expand globally, Matt’s experience and leadership will be instrumental in delivering on our strategy to bring the QVC brand and its unique video and e-commerce experience to consumers across cultures,” said Mike George.
Contact: Abdullah Home TextileCall: +92-310-132-3011Email: firstname.lastname@example.org
Home Textile Gallery
- Erasure May 15, 2015
- 1888 Mills to expand February 11, 2014
- Which retailers were among the best and worst ceos of 2013? December 19, 2013
Top Posts & Pages


text:
No mention of the many millions of people murdered, starved and tortured under Communism, though.
You don’t want to upset the kiddies, I guess.
Via CNS News.
In order to make the deadliest ideology of the 20th century palatable to young Americans, “Communism for Kids” is coming to a bookstore near you.
This newly released book from MIT Press “proposes a different kind of communism, one that is true to its ideals and free from authoritarianism.”….
According to the Amazon synopsis, the book weaves a fairy tale of “jealous princesses, fancy swords, displaced peasants, mean bosses, and tired workers.”….
It is bewildering why MIT Press would publish a book that cutesies up the political creed that gave the world Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and many more of the world’s most prolific mass murderers. None of these brutal dictators are mentioned in the book, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Communism seemingly gets a pass to be reimagined as a sweet fable while it’s inconceivable that a book called “Fascism for Kids” would ever be printed by a reputable publisher….


text:
The Less-than-Truckload market is more stable than other transportation markets at this time, but experiencing the beginnings of a capacity crunch as other modes get squeezed. LTL trends have historically followed Truckload trends. As Truckload spot market prices continues to rise, LTL will not be too far behind. However, not all carriers have the resources to weather this storm.
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States, state and federal politicians are using terms like non-essential or critical infrastructure to classify businesses. There are few different purposes for the classification one being them to easily distinguish which organizations are necessary to health, safety, and security of the nation. There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors who are deemed vital. Within each of the Critical Infrastructure Sectors, there are specific industries that serve as the foundation of the sector. Below we list the 16 Critical Infrastructure Sectors and the Core Industries within each.
Holiday retail sales crossed the $1 trillion mark for the very first time in 2018, setting a new holiday shopping record. Holiday sales surpassed expectations at a 16.5% year-over-year increase and significantly surpassed the forecast for 4.3-4.8% overall holiday retail growth. This year, 2019, another increase is expected; the size of the increase will have a ripple effect across supply chains. Here are 7 things to look out for concerning shipping during the holiday season.


text:
Feds accuse Walmart of threatening, intimidating employees who protest company
Federal officials issued a complaint against Walmart Wednesday, formally charging the corporate monolith of breaking US labor law when it attempted to break up Black Friday protests organized by its workers.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is responsible for enforcing labor laws that apply to businesses as well as union organizations, accused Walmart of illegally threatening and punishing workers who expressed interest in participating in the post-Thanksgiving strikes.
These allegations come on the same week that Occupy Wall Street released internal corporate documents revealing how Walmart allegedly works to keep unions out of its stores, including the selective enforcement of company policy and purportedly illegal actions like coercive interviews.
In the days following the Black Friday demonstrations, company employees in a number of states filed complaints with the NLRB. The agency is known to generally prefer settling with companies out of court, but the general counsel of the board “found merit” with many of the claims and failed to reach an agreement with Walmart executives.
Among the complaints was one that accused company spokesman David Tovar of threatening employees during an appearance on CBS Evening News, when he said “there could be consequences” for employees who attend the nationwide protests.
“We’ve never seen a complaint against Walmart of this size or scope, and we’re glad the NLRB is taking action,” said Sarita Gupta, executive director of the labor organization Jobs With Justice. “Walmart’s attacks on its own employees cannot go unchecked.”
Dominic Ware is a former Walmart employee named in the complaint. He told the Huffington Post he was fired after joining in multiple California demonstrations last spring. Ware said he was fired in July, and has since praised the NRLB’s decision to stand up for people who had similar experiences to his own.
“It’s just validating everything,” said the 27-year-old. “There were people who doubted the truth of what we were saying. To have it backed up by the federal government is just unbelievable.”
Walmart has until January 28 to respond to the complaint, and the company may still reach a settlement before that time.
“Walmart now has the opportunity to share the facts in these specific cases with an administrative law judge,” Brooke Buchanan, a Walmart spokeswoman, told the Huffington Post. “We’ve been in continued conversations with the NRLB on this matter since it was announced in November, and we will continue to be.”
OUR Walmart is one of the workers groups that advocates on behalf of Dominic Ware and the thousands of employees who feel they have been wronged by the company. OUR Walmart is not a union, but its growing influence throughout the chain apparently has executives worried enough that they compiled a training module seeking to inform workers that OUR Walmart is “not really here to help you.”
The documents, leaked to Occupy Wall Street from an unknown source and published Tuesday, also pleaded with salaried managers to “report union activity to the Labor Relations Hotline immediately” and to “support Walmart’s position on how we treat people.”
The training pages went on to suggest managers try to detect “Early Warning Signs” that an employee is deviating from the company line by listening for those who are “speaking negatively about wages and benefits” or “ceasing conversations when leadership approaches.”
To combat such a situation, managers should consult a list of suggested talking points. One of which being: “In my opinion, unions just want to hurt Walmart and make it harder to run our business.”
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed to MSNBC that the slides were authentic, saying only that “communications like these that we’re talking about are important to make sure our associates are receiving accurate and timely information.”


text:
Sudden closure of shops is more likely to leave husbands and boyfriends in the lurch because they often leave gift-buying to the last minute, surveys show
- Surveys suggest men tend to leave buying gifts for partner until the last minute
- Department stores routinely filled with men gripped by panic on Christmas Eve
- Now families face gaps under tree on Christmas as toy shops have also shut
- A wave of new online orders is expected this week from parents and relatives
The sudden closure of many shops is expected to hit men in relationships particularly hard.
Surveys suggest they tend to leave buying gifts for their wife or girlfriend until the last minute.
On Christmas Eve, department stores are routinely filled with men gripped by panic as they try to find a decent present – and they are willing to spend large sums to get one.
But this year, finding something suitable in Tesco, B&Q or the local petrol station shop may prove something of a stretch in Tier Four.
Surveys suggest men tend to leave buying Christmas gifts for their wife or girlfriend until the last minute but this year, finding something suitable in Tier Four may make things even harder. (Stock image)
However, the partners of these men may not be the only ones to miss out.
Millions of families face gaps under the tree on Christmas morning as toy shops have also had to shut.
A wave of new online orders is expected from parents and relatives desperate to get presents before Friday. But there are fears retailers and the courier system will be unable to cope.
Mountains of online purchases are already sitting in sorting offices and warehouses waiting to be delivered.
Courier industry experts warned there were already an estimated 200million more online orders in the parcel delivery system this year before the last-minute rush.
David Jinks, of home delivery firm ParcelHero, said: ‘There are likely to be a lot of disappointed faces on Christmas morning.
‘Millions of people will have had their shopping plans disrupted. Parcels will arrive but not necessarily in time for the big day.
‘Christmas isn’t cancelled but warn your kids it might be postponed.’
Gary Grant, the founder of The Entertainer, said: ‘My chin hit the floor when the announcement was made. A lot of people have been caught unawares. They had been planning to buy items this week.’
The company will be offering click and collect from around 50 outlets closed because of Tier 4 restrictions, however sales are expected to be down by around 80per cent at these outlets. These are toys people will need to find elsewhere.
He said: ‘We have doubled internet packing ability for Monday with our partners. Customers will be able to shop with us on the internet and we expect a big increase in demand for express delivery.
‘We are working around the clock to meet orders. Tuesday lunchtime is our last order time for guaranteed delivery, but we will do our very best to get items to people even if they order after that point.’
It comes as millions of families face gaps under the tree on Christmas morning as toy shops have also had to shut. (Stock image)
Mr Grant said: ‘People might be disappointed. The industry does not have a shortage of toys, the disappointment will be that people won’t get exactly what they wanted, or the particular colour of toy they wanted.
‘Baby Yoda is this year’s can’t find toy and we have also seem huge demand for 1,000 piece jigsaws.
‘We have sold as many of these jigsaws in the last week as we would normally do over ten years.’
Looking ahead, he fears the Tier 4 lockdown will be extended.
Mr Grant said: ‘Pessimistically, I think that by Christmas all our stores will be closed as part of a national lockdown and I suspect it could go on for between four and eight weeks, possibly even 12 weeks.
‘Right now, as we would have done during the war, we need to be linking arms. We want to make sure we do all we can to bring a smile to a child’s face this Christmas.’
Source: Read Full Article


text:
A$AP Ferg Will Headline AGOLDE x Urban Outfitters' Exclusive UO Live Concert
Also featuring a DJ set by LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang.
To celebrate the launch of its biannual magazine EIGHTY-NINE, LA-based premium denim label AGOLDE is teaming up with Urban Outfitters to host an exclusive in-store performance by A$AP Ferg. Set to be held at Urban Outfitters’ Herald Square location, the UO Live event will be headlined by the Harlem rapper, and will feature an opening DJ set by Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem and The Juan MacLean. Customers who try on AGOLDE’s denim products during the event will even have the chance to win a meet-and-greet opportunity with A$AP Ferg immediately after his performance.
The AGOLDE x Urban Outfitters live event will take place at Urban Outfitter’s Herald Square location on September 8 at 10pm.
Urban Outfitters (Herald Square)
Herald Square, New York


text:
At CES 2014 today, Nvidia revealed its next mobile processor, dubbed Tegra K1. It will come as an addition to the company’s fifth-generation Tegra chip line-up, and will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
The Tegra K1 will be compatible with next-generation graphics, thanks to the 192 Kepler graphics cores in the GeForce graphics card and Tesla supercomputer accelerators. The 32-bit model will be powered by a quad-core 4-Plus-1 ARM Cortex A15 CPU, while the 64-bit model will run on a dual-core CPU based on the ARMv8 architecture.
Nvidia’s Tegra K1 holds the possibility of bringing high-end apps, usually only employed by designers, gamers, and supercomputers, to mobile devices. The company’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, demonstrated the 64-bit mobile processor running Android at CES today.
The company had previously hinted at its latest mobile processor by creating crop circles in Salinas, California earlier this month. While some mistook the crop circles for alien contact, they were merely an indication of the 192 Kepler cores packed into the K1 processor.
Consumers can expect to see the 32-bit model in devices as soon as the first half of this year, while the 64-bit version should hit the market during the second half of the year.


text:
Blaming The Mobile Phone For Economic Troubles, Stupidity
from the seems-a-bit-much dept
Someone who prefers to be anonymous sent in this opinion piece, supposedly written by an economics professor at Kyoto University looking at the troubles in the Japanese economy over the last thirteen years and then, at the very end, blaming it all on mobile phones. The article looks at consumer electronics, the entertainment industry and the automobile industry, but then shifts gears to look at mobile phones, noting that even while mobile phone sales are “booming,” it’s done nothing to help the economy. Then, the professor points out that so much mobile phone use is leading to high bills which “dampen household spending” (assuming, of course, that “household spending” doesn’t include mobile phone bills). Then, even though he has already complained that entertainment revenues are down because there aren’t “sufficient” services to provide them, he complains that Japanese young people are “wasting hours each day” text messaging and playing online games. Finally, he concludes: “The cell phone is the cause of the business slowdown as well as the erosion in young people’s intelligence and scholastic abilities.” So, basically, it sounds like the thesis is that spending on mobile phone service is somehow “bad” because it takes away from other spending, which is somehow “good.” Seems a bit hard to back up.
Comments on “Blaming The Mobile Phone For Economic Troubles, Stupidity”
Not enough new jobs
I sent in the story by the way. 😉
The professor’s argument is full of flaws, though I can think of a legitimate point: cell phones and IT in general have raised productivity, but often at the cost of eliminating existing jobs. The few new industries that new technologies created (online services, games, etc.) have created jobs that number only in the thousands, and only for highly skilled workers. The information age has not created millions of jobs for average joes, the way the auto industry did. Although the scarcity of jobs should serve as an incentive for kids to study harder, cell phones and video games are instead providing more distractions for them to goof off. In the USA, parents point to hard-working immigrant students to tell their kids to study harder, but Japan is more isolated and complacent. Japanese universities have tried accepting more foreign students, but there have been sensationalized stories of crimes by foreigners, and it has not yet led to Japanese kids taking their studies more seriously.
Re: Not enough new jobs
“In the USA, parents point to hard-working immigrant students to tell their kids to study harder, but Japan is more isolated and complacent.”
Ironic. I grew up when the great fear in the US was competition from Japan, and hard-working Japanese immigrants were offered to us as examples of why our lazy, shiftless, high-school-aged asses were dooming the US to second-rate status. Now while Asian immigrant students are still used iconically in that manner, it seems the focus has shifted to hard-working Chinese and Koreans. I guess our culture is fortunate — as soon as the Japanese youth get as shiftless good for nothing as we are, we have lots of other Asian varieties to choose from. (Joke.)
Re: Re: Not enough new jobs
It is absolutely true. Almost all Asian math/science grad students in the USA today are either Chinese or Korean. The few Japanese grad students that do come here will go for stuff like business school or fashion design. I stay away from other Japanese because I don’t want their anti-intellectual influences. Their culture has unfortunately gone downhill.
>> Someone who prefers to be anonymous sent in
>> this opinion piece,
> by dorpus […] I sent in the story by the
> the professor points out that so much mobile
> phone use is leading to high bills
> which “dampen household spending” (assuming,
> of course, that “household spending” doesn’t
> include mobile phone bills).
Here’s a point of reference… Honda and Toyota are considering bundeling cell phone service with their cars due to the fact that the average cell phone bill is larger than the average and declining (in number) car payment.
> Japanese young people are “wasting hours each
> day” text messaging and playing online games.
Sounds like the prototypical “cranky old Japanese man not adjusting well to change” syndrome.
> In the USA, parents point to hard-working
> immigrant students to tell their kids to study
Huh? I always got told to study “like the Japanese do”. I think maybe the professor suffers from the similar cultural delusions that my parents did.
> but Japan is more isolated and complacent.
Isolated… Yes, maybe, but that’s going to change. Complacent? No, not really. The “problem”? China. Very cheep labor (which is what Japan used to be after the war) and a place where you can be one in a million person and still be one of thousands. India too!
> Japanese universities have tried accepting
> more foreign students,
Uh, no they haven’t… they’ve actually been busy kicking Chinese studens out… but that’s going to change in a *LARGE* way too.
> but there have been
> sensationalized stories of crimes by
> foreigners, and it has not yet led to Japanese
> kids taking their studies more seriously.
Uh, so, uh, gaijin crime is reponsible for Japanese students not studying hard? Somebody needs to take some sabatical time off… You know, if a professor made a statement like that in the USA, they’d be forced to take sabatical and might even lose their tenure.
You know, that entire “gaijin crime” thing is a bit of a cop-out by the Japanese press. Sell papers, but has very little to do with reality.
> The few Japanese grad students that do come
> here will go for stuff like business school
That’s because there are *FAR* better engeineering schools *IN* *JAPAN*. Duh.
> I stay away from other Japanese because I
> don’t want their anti-intellectual influences.
Huh? I’m not even going to bother explaining just idiotic that statement is.
> Their culture has unfortunately gone downhill.
You’re funny when you type. This *HAS* to be troll; no sane person would actually believe you.


text:
As we are all confined to our homes to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, watching movies online have become our latest hobby. People are glued to their mobile or laptop screens all day and are watching movies, series or serials online. However, the struggle of what to watch is constant but Google Search will now help you find your next binge.
Google has come up with the latest feature 'What to Watch' where it lists out movies or TV shows which you can watch across various platforms. Right from searching for 'Good shows to watch' or 'what to watch' on Google, the search engine giant provides organised set of suggestions from various streaming providers which will in a way help you decide what show you can watch.
The main motive behind this feature is to help such users who are searching for what to watch or good shows to watch. Users can also filter the results based on streaming services and the genres. When the users type what to watch or good shows to watch, Google search lists out shows from various platforms.
Google said in a statement "Starting today and over the coming week, Google will be rolling out a new experience in Google Search -- when people search for things like “good shows to watch” or “what to watch”, they will see an organized set of suggestions from streaming providers."
The new feature is available in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and English, with additional languages and streaming providers to follow. Google said that as people are spending more time at home, they are extensively searching for 'what to watch' and 'best movies' and the search has surged significantly since late March.
While searching for the shows and movies, users can filter out the OTT channels which they have subscribed to. They need to click on 'Edit Providers' button on the right. You can now get personalised recommendations and can rent/buy/watch their favourite program for free if they have the subscription. It will also filter out any unnecessary recommendations for the users.
Also, for quick access, apart from searching for shows and movies to watch, you can also add them to 'Watchlist' and not lose track of what you are watching'. You must click on 'Watchlist' in the preview window after searching for 'What to watch' in order to add it to the viewing list. You can also switch between the recommendations and the 'Watchlist' tab.
Using this new Google feature will let you look for anything specific and get better results. Also, users can get additional details of the cast, genre, the synopsis of the show/movie on the mobile app. Google also stated that many new updates and features will be added in the coming months.


text:
At the beginning of the year in Russia, more expensive cars
The experts made a disappointing forecast in the early years, cars will become more expensive. This is due to the weakening of the ruble. Also a cause of rising prices has been the introduction of » ERA-GLONASS 2017. It’s a built in warning system in case of accidents and emergencies.
In January 2017 the cost of cars will increase by 15%. In the beginning of this year, the price of cars rose by only 7%.
Also, experts believe that the owners of car dealerships can abandon the traditional new year sales, and also Christmas discounts. Therefore, if you decide to buy a car, it is best to do now to raise prices.


text:
“If we had been having this dialog in the context of drug costs being low-budget across the board — whats up, respectable news,” observed Cynthia Pearson, the govt director of the countrywide girls’s health community, a purchaser group. “It’s just infuriating that the cost has long past up and up and up for no good intent.”
She pointed out the concern has no longer gotten greater situs judi online attention as a result of “what number of people will say ‘vagina’ in a public atmosphere?”
Some organizations are the use of a playful advertising method, signaling the problem is not as taboo because it once become. The website of Imvexxy — which rhymes with horny — aspects a picture of a ripe, juicy peach, boasting the product is “noticeably designed for sweet reduction.” a similar product, Intrarosa, which does not comprise estradiol, facets a photograph of a nude older lady, her head thrown returned in pleasure.
Some of these items may additionally soon come down in expense. In October 2016, a regularly occurring of Vagifem, known as Yuvafem, entered the market at a a bit of reduced listing cost. Then, in July of remaining year, Teva prescription drugs began selling a 2d normal at a fair cheaper expense. but the pharmacy money price for Teva’s product — $163.91 for a month’s supply of eight pills in might also — continues to be greater than what Vagifem can charge in 2015, in accordance with the GoodRx analysis.
If extra prevalent manufacturers enter the market, the rate may tumble extra and Vagifem could turn into a reasonable drug like many ldl cholesterol or blood drive medicines. The identical could become genuine for Estrace cream, which lost its patent protection at the end of last year and now has a couple of time-honored competitors.
With two generics for Vagifem now obtainable, the drug groups are certainly negotiating big coupon codes with insurers, that means patients with insurance might also see their costs drop. Elizabeth Traynor, an illustrator in Guntersville, Alabama, had tried just about each estradiol product and balked at the expenses, frequently doing without. however she currently known as her insurer, the executive personnel fitness association, and learned she would must pay $20 for a three-month give of Yuvafem. “It’s about time,” she stated. “Hooray!”
Estradiol has been around for thus lengthy that it has survived a couple of rounds of debate over excessive prices. In 1959, a Senate inquiry discovered that the drug maker Schering, now a part of Merck, had marked up estradiol — which is available in many varieties — by using more than 7,000 % over the can charge of substances.
In an echo of contemporary-day business speaking aspects, a Schering executive turned into quoted in an editorial within the long island instances, asserting the high expenses were imperative to finance new medical research. “The consumers of nowadays need to contribute to the benefits which the longer term will deliver,” the drug executive talked about.


text:
WiMAX solutions developer Alvarion Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR; TASE: ALVR) won a contract to take part in a major US wireless broadband deployment, spanning 17 states and reaching 6 million people.
Alvarion said the deal is worth $100 million over five years. However, market sources estimate it may reach as high as $150 million. It is the largest contract in Alvarion's history.
Shares in Alvarion jumped 15% on Nasdaq yesterday, to close at $3.61, giving it a market cap of $223.63 million.
Alvarion announced that it was selected by US broadband wireless operator, Open Range Communications Inc., for the largest Rural Utilities Service (RUS)-funded deployment so far in the US. The network will span 17 states, 546 rural communities, and reach up to 6 million people.
With the new broadband wireless network, Open Range will begin offering 4G services to un-served and underserved customers across rural America in the fourth quarter of this year. Alvarion will provide radio access equipment, customer devices (CPE) and systems integration for Open Range’s broadband wireless network.
Alvarion president and CEO Tzvika Friedman said, “Open Range’s vision to connect rural America will stimulate local development for many rural communities across the US."
Open Range founder and CEO, Bill Beans Jr. said, “Open Range’s unique business model focuses on delivering wireless high-speed Internet and voice services to un-served and underserved communities.”
Open Range uses WiMAX technology to deliver wireless broadband to un-served and underserved American communities. The firm plans to deliver portable and eventually mobile voice and Internet services to customers within its WiMAX footprint. p>Alvarion has reported five deals in June, including the current one. It recently reported a deal in Taiwan, and earlier reported deals in Nigeria, Norway, and Papua-New Guinea.
Alvarion has an extensive WiMAX customer base and over 250 commercial deployments around the globe.


text:
The Washington Capitals and Caesars Entertainment announced a multiyear partnership Friday that will begin in the 2022-23 season, per David Purdum and Greg Wyshynski of ESPN. The team will wear the Caesars Sportsbook logo on its home and third sweaters.
The Capitals are the first NHL team with a jersey sponsor and the first in the four major United States sports leagues to sell jersey sponsorship to a gambling entity.
The patch will measure three inches by three-and-a-half inches.
The Capitals will not have the Caesars Sportsbook advertising on its away uniforms, however, to ensure it isn't seen in arenas in states where single-game sports betting isn't permitted.
"We don't want that jersey going to away markets where it's not legal," said Keith Wachtel, the NHL's chief business officer and senior executive vice president.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Place: Bell Harbor International Conference Center
T-Mobile fined, sued and may get Lumia 900
Send this to a friend
Just as T-Mobile launches its take-no-prisoners attitude with a new advertising campaign, lots of T-Mobile rumors and news are floating around, some good, some not so good for the Bellevue-based company that recently announced it was laying off 1,900 call center workers.
The Federal Communication Commission has fined T-Mobile $819,000 for willfully violating rules requiring cellular companies to provide hearing-aid compatible devices. According to the FCC’s ruling, T-Mobile misrepresented how many hearing-aid-compatible devices it had and when it was informed that it was violating the requirement, failed to improve its record.
T-Mobile issued a statement that it is “committed to providing high-quality products and services to all of its customers, including a broad selection of handsets that are hearing aid compatible.”
There are also rumors that T-Mobile might be able to sell the Nokia Lumia 900 this summer. AT&T has an exclusive deal for the new smartphone, which carries the Windows Phone operating system, but that deal will expire this summer.
PC Magazine also reported that T-Mobile is being sued by an Israeli company for patent infringement. The suit, which was filed in New York District Court, alleges the wireless carrier infringed on On Track Innovations’ near-field communication patents. The popular Samsung Galaxy II is equipped with near-field communication, which turns a smartphone into a mobile payment device using an app like Google Wallet, or allows transfers of data between devices that are nearby.
Emily Parkhurst covers technology for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal. She can be reached at 206-876-5441 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Twitter: @emilyparkhurst
Emily Parkhurst oversees all digital content for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
- Most popular
- 10 years in the making, massive Stadium East project launched
- LMN-led team will design $1B Seattle convention center expansion
- Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant arrested at Alaska Airlines protest
- Mars Hill leader Mark Driscoll lists Montlake home for $650,000
- Russell Investments Center: Hard-luck high-rise or lucky investment?
- Boeing reportedly loses $13 billion Delta deal to Airbus
- Sea-Tac to Delta, Alaska: This airport is big enough for the both of
- 1st look: What Amazon's 4th downtown block might look like (slideshow)
- Nordstrom nixes big half-yearly sales
- Boeing CEO makes more than his company pays in federal taxes
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Executive Director of Children’s Home Society & Trust Foundation Children’s Home Society & Trust Foundation | Seattle, WA
Account Executive – Cisco/Avaya/Microsoft Lync Continuant | Tacoma, WA
Human Resources Program Manager Vulcan Inc. | Seattle, WA
Work For: ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor | Seattle, WA
Sr. Named Account Manager Continuant | Tacoma, WA


text:
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
Teton Gravity Research garners prestigious nomination alongside Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and CNN for digital feature about snowboarding icon Bryan Iguchi
JACKSON, Wyo. (April 18, 2016)In what the New York Times has called “the internet’s highest honor,” global youth-culture media leader Teton Gravity Research (TGR), has been recognized for excellence in digital content production.
TGR has been nominated for “Best Branded Editorial Experience” in the 20th Annual Webby Awards for its work on The Unfound: Bryan Iguchi, a multimedia digital feature about snowboarding icon Bryan Iguchi. The Unfound: Bryan Iguchi, presented by Volcom and Gore-Tex, documents the journey of a man dedicated to his passion, elegantly displaying the story in photography, words, and video.
Nomination in this category, which recognizes unique immersive digital content, is a competitive and important distinction. Other nominees include large, mainstream media producers Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal.
“Being nominated for a Webby with media giants like CNN and WSJ is a huge honor for the team here at TGR,” says CEO Todd Jones. “Of course, winning this category would leave us more than thrilled. It would stand as recognition of the talents of our remarkable digital team and help cement TGR as the true leader in youth action-sports media.”
The winner for Best Branded Editorial Experience will be chosen through social-media voting, which closes April 21, 2016.
In addition to this nomination, TGR received an honorable mention in the Online Film & Video category for the viral One Shotsegment featuring Brandon Semenuk, which was released last fall.
About Teton Gravity Research
TGR is the leading brand in adventure, action-sports, and youth-culture media. TGR’s world-class storytelling has captivated audiences for more than 20 years. With a global, multi-channel footprint, a thriving millennial audience, award-winning multimedia film projects, a rapidly growing experiential platform, and unprecedented viral content, Teton Gravity Research is one of the fastest growing media brands on the planet. TGR is a proud member of 1% For The Planet, BICEP, Surfrider Foundation, IMBA, and Protect Our Winters. For more information on TGR, visit TetonGravity.com.
(970) 963-4873 ext.126
(970) 963-4873 ext.137


text:
Is this the iPhone 5S? Leaked images purported to come out of Foxconn are claimed to show Apple’s next iPhone, and it looks pretty much identical to the iPhone 5, although some have noted that there’s at least one small change: the iPhone 5S uses the iPhone 4S’s softer vibration component instead of the louder rotating one used in the iPhone 5.
iPhoneinCanada.ca speculates that these images are coming from the same factory that manufactures the shameless Android knock-off of the iPhone 5 called the Goophone, so there is a strong chance of forgery.
Update: And… in fact, as Steve from Nowherelese.fr points out on Twitter, it’s almost definite that this is an image of a Goophone-like knock-off and not the iPhone 5S.
Reports have suggested that the iPhone 5S would start production in December to get a better handle on the supply constraints that plague everyiPhone launch. If true, it’s not too early to start seeing iPhone 5S leaks… this one just doesn’t appear to be a real one.
Source: Times Of India


text:
India's business confidence sharply deteriorated as demand took a hit during the prevalent second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a survey conducted by an industry body and released Monday.
The Overall Business Confidence Index nosedived to 51.5 for the month of May after reporting a decadal high of 74.2 in the previous survey released in March, said a statement by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
India currently has a COVID-19 caseload of over 28 million, of which over 2 million are active cases with 329,100 deaths reported so far.
Around 70 per cent of participants in the survey reported weak demand conditions as a bothering factor as compared to 56 per cent in the preceding survey as household income was being severely impacted and past savings were already spent during the first wave of infections last year, said the statement.
Rising raw material cost was also a concern among the participants in the survey, among whom 31 per cent saw a decline in better sales prospects compared to 66 per cent in the preceding survey and thereby a decline in higher profits.
The outlook on employment was seen deteriorating with only 19 per cent of respondents expressing optimism about hiring over the next two quarters compared to 35 per cent in the preceding survey while exports prospects were also seen subdued.
Respondents called on the government to offer another fiscal stimulus to boost demand along with liquidity support and credit enhancement to medium, small and micro enterprises, said the statement. Endtiem
Read more from the below TAGS
People also reading-


text:
SAFEagent Awareness is a week of raising awareness of where consumers can find a registered SAFEagent who is part of a recognised client money protection scheme. Who's involved? All registered SAFEagents get involved in the Week as well as supplier supporters of the campaign, industry and consumer organisations. When is it? National SAFEagent Awareness Week takes place from 15th - 19th May 2017 and is dedicated to highlighting risks (of working with letting agents without CMP
'Right to Rent’ goes live across England from 1 February 2016, agents and landlords will have to carry out quick and simple checks to ensure potential tenants have the right to rent property in the UK.
Right to Rent was first introduced in parts of the West Midlands in December 2014 and the extension to England is the next phase of a nationwide roll out. Landlords and agents, and anybody who sublets or takes in lodgers, could face a financial penalty of up to £3,000 per ten
As a member of both NALS and SAFEagent, Busbybee Lettings is committed to the campaign to raise awareness of the financial protection firms can offer to consumers through being part of a Client Money Protection Scheme.
SAFEagent and NALS are part of a coalition of organisations backing an amendment to the Housing Bill to make it compulsory for all letting agents to have CMP. To emphasise the importance of this amendment to politicians, we are supporting an online petition.
Busybee Lettings is now a member of the NALS, The National Approved Letting Scheme. NALS (The National Approved Letting Scheme) ensures that agents comply with defined service standards and has in place a customer complaints procedure offering independent redress through an ombudsman scheme, Professional Indemnity Insurance, Client Money Protection cover and access to Tenancy Deposit Protection. The scheme is supported by some of the most powerful voices in the property indus


text:
Welcome to this week’s Market Pulse, your 5 minute update on key market news and events, with takeaways and insights from the Sidekick Investment Team.
In this week’s edition we have:
It’s important to note that the content of this Market Pulse is based on current public information which we consider to be reliable and accurate. It represents Sidekick’s view only and does not represent investment advice - investors should not take decisions to trade based on this information.
The peace dividend is a term coined after the fall of the old Soviet Union. It describes the economic benefit of a decrease in defence spending and an increase in spending on areas like education or healthcare.
Like citizens, governments have to budget carefully and choose where they spend their money. In economics, this choice between spending money on the military or other areas is called the ‘guns versus butter’ model. In 1982 global military spending was 4.3% of GDP. Since then it has fallen steadily thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union. By 2021 it was only 2.2% .
Global GDP is around $85trn dollars and the difference between 4% and 2% is $1.7trn every year. That is a lot of money going to areas like social welfare, healthcare and education instead of tanks and missiles. Thanks to actions by China and Russia over the last few years, NATO member countries are responding with plans to once again start increasing their military spending .
The traditional acquisition model in the Western military industrial complex focusses on a few major defence contractors. China, on the other hand, operates what Steve Blank, co-founder of the Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford, calls the ‘Silicon Valley Model’. They make use of public-private funds and some estimate they have already invested more than $1trn into their tech sector. This approach seems to be paying off. Despite the US spending almost 4 times more than China on defence, China has taken the lead in some key technologies including small drones and hypersonic missiles .
This could all be about to change. Last year NATO launched a fund to invest in startups focussed on technologies like AI and novel materials with military applications. In the US, the Biden administration recently requested funds for a new unit at the Pentagon called the Office of Strategic Capital. Their goal? Attract long-term investment by VCs into startups producing technologies seen as critical to the military .
Investors on both sides of the Atlantic are paying attention to the emerging DefenceTech opportunity. But there are some challenges. You usually can’t hold a global auction to sell your startup if you are involved in a sensitive military project. This smaller pool of potential buyers could impact exit valuations. Military projects are also often much longer than 5-7 years where potential investors / VC’s might look to exit. But for now, these barriers don't seem to be holding back investment. Global deal activity in aerospace and defence averaged $25bn during 2021/2022, more than double the $10bn average between 2015 and 2019 .
It seems like NATO member countries might increasingly opt for guns over butter in the coming years. Startups from Silicon Valley to Europe are positioning themselves for what could be a big opportunity. We would much rather see public capital being spent on the transition to a green economy or areas like universal healthcare but we can’t ignore the rising likelihood of the remilitarisation of NATO member countries. If this happens, it could materially impact the global investment landscape.
Despite rapid increases in UK interest rates, inflation is still red hot. Last week, inflation came in higher than economists expected and prompted the Bank of England to hike interest rates another 0.25%. This takes the base rate to 4.25% .
UK consumer price inflation was 10.5% in December last year. In January this year, it fell to 10.1% and raised our hopes that the worst was behind us. But, last week we got the number for February. Inflation re-accelerated to 10.4%, almost back to the December peak.
It’s not all bad news however. The higher number was driven by historically volatile clothing and footwear prices. Inflation in the services sector, considered by some a better indicator of the underlying price pressures, was lower than the Bank of England forecast. This is a positive sign. UK consumers are also a bit more upbeat. Retail spending increased 1.2% in February and consumer confidence continued to improve from the lows in September 2022 .
The Bank of England still expects inflation to fall fast over the course of 2023. They expect the reopening of China could help alleviate some of the pressures in global supply chains partly responsible for higher inflation. Energy prices are also falling and this should help stabilise prices. But this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve seen the last interest rate hike this year. Some economists predict we could see one more hike in the base rate, to 4.5%, this year . The Bank of England is adamant they need to see concrete evidence that inflation is falling towards their target before they will consider cutting interest rates.
While inflation is still high, underlying economic indicators suggest things are going in the right direction. Inflationary trends could improve as we head into 2024.
Gaming is a big business. Where it used to be a pastime for teenagers, those teenagers have grown up and they still love spending time playing games. Last year more than 3bn people globally played video games. In developed countries more than 60% of people play games, almost half of them women. The gaming industry is likely to expand faster than any broad entertainment category, including video and music streaming .
But people don’t just like playing games. A lot of them also like creating games and content for other users. Roblox is a global platform where millions of people gather to share experiences with each other in user generated 3D worlds. The Roblox vice president said he believes the future of gaming is user generated content . High quality user generated content has taken video by storm and thanks to generative AI, gaming could be next.
Generative AI could disrupt the gaming industry by democratising game creation. The easier it becomes to create high quality 3D content and creative game mechanics, the more people will likely get involved in creating games. And, as games get better and more creative, it could lead to more gamers. This virtuous cycle has the potential to unleash explosive growth in the gaming industry.
But it’s not just traditional gaming that might benefit from the democratisation of the creative process. The success of the metaverse could depend on how easy it becomes for users to create new 3D content. Adobe and Youtube have empowered millions of content creators around the world. We believe that the integration of generative AI into creative workflows could accelerate the production of increasingly complex user generated content.
Initially we will likely see exciting new games for existing platforms like PCs, consoles and smartphones. But eventually it might bring us closer to the ever-elusive metaverse. And, if the metaverse becomes a place where we have hundreds of millions of monthly active users, it could unleash a wave of demand for new VR hardware that might one day rival the mighty smartphone.
Sidekick Money Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (No. 13882980). Sidekick Money Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 984829). Our address is Rivington House, 82 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3JF.
Payment and e-money services (Non MIFID related products) are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England No. 06323311. Registered Office: Stewardship Building 1st Floor, 12 Steward Street London E1 6FQ. The Currency Cloud Limited is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199)
Sidekick Money Ltd also provides investment management and lending services. These are separate and unrelated to the account and payment services you receive from The Currency Cloud Limited.


text:
With thanks to nutraingredients.com
The other recognises that botanical products have a somewhat unique status and can be sold as both food supplements and medicines.
Until now almost all botanical products except basic ‘spice rack’ herbs and a few others could only be sold in France as medicines in pharmacies.
Jacques Karlsson, the general secretary of the French food supplements trade association, Synadiet, said while the decrees were yet to become law as detail required further resolution, the French government move was significant.
“This is a very important step because it recognises herbal products for what they are rather than mis-grouping them all together as medicines and restricting their access,” Karlsson told NutraIngredients.com.
“But it is not yet written in law and we have not seen the final text so we wait for that.”
He said the Traditional Herbal Medicines Product Directive (THMPD) had not yet been transposed into the French legislature.
Most botanical products have been classified as medicines in France since the enactment of a 1941 law and hence restricted to pharmacies.
According to Patrick Coppens, the secretary-general of the Brussels-based industry group, the European Responsible Nutrition Alliance (ERNA), the French decrees were a step toward lifting “the pharma monopoly” that had existed in France for so long.
“The legislation is not complete but this is a move in the right direction,” he said. “With the application of the principles of mutual recognition there could soon be a lot more botanical products sold in non-pharmacy markets on the French market.”


text:
Twitter/Mornray886In the past few weeks, we've gotten a seriously healthy dose of new iPhone gossip.
We're going to dig into all of it here.
The iPhone 6 is still many months away from release, but that doesn't mean it's too early to start thinking about it.
In the past few weeks, we've gotten a seriously...
This is why you should be buying gold
More "The Bottom Line" »
Martha Stewart will never stop reinventing herself — here's how she went from a stockbroker to hosting a cooking show with Snoop Dogg
More "Stay Hungry" »
Get the best of Business Insider delivered to your inbox every day.


text:
At the world’s fifth largest food and beverage company, adjusting marketing strategy to the altered COVID-19 world has triggered significant shifts.
I recently asked Kraft Heinz U.S. Zone President Carlos Abrams-Rivera to share some of what’s been happening.
Paul Talbot: What’s the organization doing to adapt to your customers’ changes in behavior?
Carlos Abrams-Rivera: What we have learned is that it’s all about being nimble - responding quicker, faster and more efficiently than ever.
Once the pandemic struck, we quickly adapted our operations to be as efficient as possible. We’re confident in the strength and resilience of our supply chain - and we’re working to deliver more products quickly and efficiently to our customers.
In some cases, we’re making fewer varieties of some products so we can focus on those that have the highest demand. We’re also adjusting the way we deliver goods to retailers to help them get on shelves faster. For example, we’re delivering full pallets versus mixed pallets to simplify the delivery and stocking process.
We shifted more of our media strategy to digital and social platforms where consumers have moved at a much faster pace than we previously expected. We’ve adapted our brand messaging, as well. In May, our Oscar Mayer brand created the first-ever Front Yard Cookout, where we invited consumers to take their backyard cookouts to their front yards in order to connect with their neighbors - even while staying apart.
The positive results we’re seeing now reflect the transformation agenda we launched last year, the investments we’ve made in our business and the ownership mentality of our employees.
Talbot: As you identify these changes, what’s happening to align the business around this shift?
Abrams-Rivera: We have been developing our new strategy, transforming our capabilities and making much-needed investments in the business for months. We plan to share specific details more broadly about our new enterprise strategy in the fall.
What I can tell you now is we are reshaping our company and our business for the future by placing consumers at the center of everything we do.
We’ve done an extensive review of our business to better understand our consumer. That led us to new insights, reshaping how we think about our portfolio and how we can adapt to and drive future consumer trends. We have a clearer view of the things that will make a difference for us, that will help us operate more efficiently and make our brands even more relevant to consumers. Structure follows strategy - and our new U.S. structure will reflect how we see ourselves anticipating and better adapting to consumer needs today and into the future.
Talbot: How does the growth of e-commerce impact the marketing strategies behind your products?
Abrams-Rivera: We need to be everywhere our consumers shop from the local store to online. E-commerce represents a tremendous opportunity for our brands and our products because we know our consumers are expanding their presence in this channel and we will continue to adapt to our changing consumer needs.
Since the crisis, as many as 33% of e-commerce shoppers are making purchases online for the first time. And household penetration of online sales in the U.S. is much greater than we thought it would be even three years from now.
Talbot: What process are you using, and what questions are your people asking, to determine how you will be making future media investments?
Abrams-Rivera: In moments of crisis or challenge, there are those who retreat and those who play offense. We are leaning in, reshaping our company and our business to be consumer-obsessed, more agile and set up for long-term future success.
A big part of our strategy development has been our marketers thinking about the future and asking themselves what will happen next, how are people’s behaviors changing in real time and which of those behaviors they will carry forward.
Talbot: Any other insights you’d like to share?
Abrams-Rivera: I joined Kraft Heinz 100 days ago - and I’m so energized. Simply put, we’re in the right place and the right time, and I’ve never been more excited about the opportunities at Kraft Heinz.
Our company’s response to this crisis has only strengthened my belief that Kraft Heinz is in a unique position. Every day, we serve families with trusted brands. We have a strong sense of ownership and a clear purpose - to feed the world. And we have shown we have the agility at scale to rise and meet the challenges of this moment.
Even before COVID-19, we were working rapidly in the U.S. to shape our new consumer-centric direction. We are moving with a high degree of urgency and the current crisis has not slowed us down.